Venezuela arrested for 'terrorist plot' including Americans

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on the 7th local time that he had arrested seven foreigners, including Americans, on charges of "terrorist plotting."

Maduro claimed two Americans, two Colombian snipers and three mercenaries with experience in the war in Ukraine plotted "terrorist acts" ahead of the president's inauguration scheduled for the 10th.

"I am sure they will confess in the coming hours," Maduro said in a speech broadcast on state television, before declaring that he would deploy a large number of police and military forces across the country.

The announcement came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed Venezuela's former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urutia to the U.S.

President Biden called González 'Venezuela President-elect'

The U.S. and some of its neighbors believe opposition claims that González won the most votes in the presidential election held in July last year by a wide margin, but that Maduro was declared elected because the election results were fabricated.